On Thursday, fans were given the second episode of Loki Season 2, titled “Breaking Brad,” presumably a cheeky allusion to the immortalized AMC TV series.
After last week’s high stakes opening, the story remains energetic. As the multitude of timelines branching from the Sacred Timeline continues to grow, we join Loki and Mobius in their quest to find Sylvie, played by Sophia Di Martino, with whom they believe lie answers, or at the very least clues, to the chaos at hand.
What lies between them and this goal is quick-witted former Time Variance Authority Hunter X-5, or Brad Wolfe, played by Rafael Casal. Wolfe has abandoned his post at the TVA to live his life on earth; his reluctance to leave leads to a reluctance to aid the search for Sylvie.
The aspect of this episode immediately worth mentioning is the performance of Casal, who stands out as the charming and suavely spoken subject of the episode’s titular pun. Every second of his screen time is enthralling, with each conversation and interaction with Loki and Mobius like music to the viewer’s ears.
This dynamic persists throughout the entire episode, even beyond the scenes featuring Brad Wolfe.
The Loki-Mobius buddy-cop relationship is as engaging here as it was for all of Season 1. It’s a welcome improvement upon episode one, which tried to resume the buddy-cop humor while also inundating the audience with the grand scope of the new season’s stakes. The result was a notable tonal imbalance, with the comedy feeling forced and tacked-on.
The stakes aren’t necessarily lowered in “Breaking Brad,” but the atmosphere is much less urgent. After being reintroduced to the world, the narrative can shift to an intimate, episode-by-episode scale that is much more conducive with character interactions and situational comedy.
Otherwise, there isn’t a vast amount of variance to speak of. Where episode one struggled in balancing tone, episode two took a step forward, and where episode one excelled — intrigue, scale, and overall engagement — episode two brought more of the same.
“Breaking Brad” is a strong step forward both in terms of quality and in the overall chronology of the show. After an action-packed runtime and, as always, rousing conclusion, audiences will be ready and waiting when Thursday brings episode three.
